Footloose and fancy-free

In my family, I am the patroness of hypochondria. I seek medical opinion for every twitch and glitch in my system. When it comes to ailments, I can hardly differentiate between reality and imagination.

How long ago have I had this hypochondria? All I know is that when my sister graduated from medical school about eight years ago, I recognized most of the doctors onstage who were professors at the UP College of Medicine.

When my dear grandfather passed away of pneumonia one Wednesday morning last month, I rushed to the hospital in the evening because I thought I had a hard time breathing.

The doctor’s diagnosis? "You have very strong lungs!" In the midst of their grief, my relatives managed a smile on their tear-stricken faces when they found out about my latest hospital excursion.

That is perhaps why Susan Joven, a fellow hypochondriac, insisted that I see visiting Singaporean reflexologist Desmond Sim, a former policeman and movie actor, who is in Manila until today. Sim is planning to come back in September to hold more seminars on his healing method.

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So out of curiosity, I decided to pay Desmond a visit. The waiting area of suite 1524 at the Oakwood in Glorietta was filled with former beauty queens, matrons, svelte young socialites and powerful-looking businessmen on the day of my appointment. Which goes to prove that to feel good– and look smashing – people will try anything.

The glamorous Diaz sisters – Gloria, Ruby, Aurora, and their mother, were there.

"Today is Rio’s birthday," Aurora told me, hope in her eyes.

Heiress Jamby Madrigal was there, and she said she personally experienced the natural healing method of Desmond in Singapore. At the time, Jamby was 40 pounds overweight and was suffering from irregular menstrual periods and a general feeling of malaise. She was introduced to Desmond by businessman Chito Recto and after a few sessions, her slow metabolism was corrected, and she started losing weight. Her menstrual cycle is normal again.

"It took Desmond almost half a year before he agreed to visit the Philippines," says Jamby. According to Jamby, Desmond and his brothers, using the Natural Therapy Cypress Foot Reflexology Health method, have cured their mother of nose cancer and other illnesses. Desmond and his team have recently converted to Christianity.

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Desmond’s healing is centered on the foot, that part of our body we often take for granted. Nowadays, we are learning that it takes more than a pedicure to pamper our feet.

Did you know that the average man takes 2,000 steps everyday, and the more active ones take 5,000 steps? Next to the heart, the feet are perhaps the most overworked of all body parts.

"Our foot consists of 250,000 sweat glands, 7,200 blood vessels, 56 ligaments, 38 muscles and 26 bones," says Desmond. He believes that by stimulating the reflex zones of the foot, blood circulation is stimulated, thus activating body cells.

Desmond gives out a diagram that shows which part of the foot represents a body organ. According to the diagram, the big toe of the foot, for instance, houses reflex zones of the head, frontal sinuses, cerebellum, pituitary gland, the nose and the neck. Desmond and his team claim that if that part of your foot hurts when massaged, then there is something wrong with the organs with "zones" there.

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I was told not to take in solid food an hour before the session, which began with a light foot scrub by an attendant. Then I was ushered to a room where about three other people were being examined by Desmond and his team.

Desmond took my right foot in his hand and examined it. He asked what bothered me. I told him I’ve generally been in good health (all my visits to the doctor yielded good results, di ba?).

"You are very stubborn," he smiled. I took that to mean I was able to fight back most illnesses.

Then he told me something which none of my doctors had ever told me: "Your liver is not sick, but it is not functioning at its best. That’s why you’re starting to have pimples. If your liver is working at its best, your blemishes (wrinkles?) will disappear!" Omigosh! And I thought Retin-A and Obagi did the trick! I never thought the liver was an organ essential to a beautiful skin!

He did not "diagnose" any other major "ailments," past or present, which made Susan Joven exclaim, "See, you’re just imagining all your ailments!"

After Desmond gave his diagnosis, his associate Alex Yeo gave me a foot massage that felt cathartic. The massage was exquisitely painful, the kind of pain that is immediately rewarded by relief, as if all knots in your foot have been untangled, and all impurities flushed out. Imagine a hard knot of manila hemp slowly being unraveled. That’s how I felt.

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As I write this, it has been seven hours since my session. I feel great, but since I’m beating a deadline, my gut feels irritable as usual (this, Desmond did not diagnose). My feet feel sore, but it’s the soreness one feels after a good workout.

Political strategist Lito Banayo says, "It’s amazing how Sim was able to tell me what my health problems are, by just pressing my foot and they’re exactly what my medical tests say, except that I haven’t been following the do’s and don’t’s of a right diet."

Cancer survivor Patricia Borromeo was quoted by Jamby as saying, "Desmond was able to diagnose what I had. He said there was something wrong with my lymph nodes and he said that I have cancer. He just said not to do chemo and the cancer is going to disappear on its own."

Jamby also said that Desmond assured Patricia that she can still have children, "even 10 children!"

For now, I’m not giving any testimonials or hallelujahs. All I can say is that I got one hell of a foot massage from reflexologist Alex Yeo, who preached about the powers of faith in Jesus Christ as he was pinching the hell out of my foot.

So if you’re seeing me footloose and fancy-free these days, maybe it is the after-effect of the hour-long massage. Maybe, among the toxins massaged out of my system was that six-letter word, STRESS.

It was a foot-ful experience!

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(For inquiries about Desmond Sim’s seminars next month, you may call the Harmony Therapy Center 718-2295 or e-mail [email protected])